


What comes after?

by idunno



Series: In Another World [2]
Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Angel Crowley (Good Omens), Gen, Other, Philosophical discussion about the nature of God, Post-Almost Apocalypse (Good Omens), Sequel, The Ineffable Plan (Good Omens)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:48:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28128636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idunno/pseuds/idunno
Summary: After God turned Crowley back into an angel, there still are questions to be asked. Some of them may actually be answered.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Crowley & God (Good Omens)
Series: In Another World [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060658
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	1. Waking up with Aziraphale

**Author's Note:**

> I am back! It's been over a year and what a year it was. I hope whoever is reading this is well.  
> I found a beta for this work but disclaimer neither of us are native english speakers.  
> Hope you like this!

It took two days for Crowley to wake up. He hurt a lot less than before although he still ached a little. 'Turns out that sleep is healing for de- ang- man-shaped beings who switch between the celestial and the occult and not just humans' he mused. 

He noticed that Aziraphale was still in the room.  
"Have you been there the entire time? And for that matter how long has it been?" he asked.  
Aziraphale perked up and answered, "Two days."  
"Only two days?" It came as a huge surprise. He felt agony for months when he Fell. He wondered if that was because being turned back into an angel was not a punishment. He dismissed that thought as unlikely, given that the transformation was just as painful both times.

"Now I wish I slept after the Fall!"  
"Crowley ... "Aziraphale looked heartbroken "Are you okay?"  
Crowley grunted "I'm fine."  
He wasn't. There was no way to tell what was going to happen from now on and he wanted to be prepared. He was not sure exactly what God had said as he was too overwhelmed with pain and panic at the time and he knew that every single one of Her words has ramifications: for Heaven, for angels, for Aziraphale and for himself. 

Even demons paid fearful attention to Her words. Many of course had never heard her speak after the Fall. Crowley had the dubious honor of hearing Her voice due to his trick in the garden, when She transformed his eyes as punishment to be forever marked as the snake from the garden, the inventor of original sin. 

Ice crawled down his spine and he jumped out of bed and run to the bathroom (which hasn't been used since that one time in the 80's in which he got so drunk he forgot to sober up) which held the nearest mirror. Said mirror had been hanging there since the bathroom was build, but as Aziraphale never imagined that mirrors may need cleaning it had remained clear and soon Crowley was reflected on it's surface. Yellow snake eyes stared back at him, his eyes.

He was filled with relief and immediately wondered if he should have been dismayed. When his eyes originally changed he took it in stride (saw it as just another part of becoming a demon, especially as others began to gain animal attributes themselves) but he had been upset. Now he was glad to have kept something that had originally given him sorrow. Truly they were his eyes now, more so than the others had been. It's been so long that he had them. However rubbish the saying the eyes are the gateway to the soul is (he would know) looking at his reflection and meeting unfamiliar eyes would be upsetting.

Aziraphale with worry written all over his face came to stand outside the bathroom.  
"They are the same" Crowley murmured and then turning to Aziraphale he asked  
"Do you think that they remain because they were punisment? That original sin was a crime too large to be forgiven?"  
"I don't know my dear. But doesn't turning back into an angel means that you've been forgiven?"  
"I don't know. I...am not entirely sure what actually happened. I am no longer a demon and holy water doesn't harm me, but what does that mean?"

After a puzzled look from Aziraphale he elaborated  
"Am I supposed to return to my former duties? Do I need to go to Heaven? Will I have to take back my original name?"  
"Oh Crowley, I don't know about the name. I think you could if you wanted?"  
"I don't." The reply was instant. As much uncertainty he felt about his eyes, he was absolutely sure that his chosen name was the one he wanted. 

Funny things, names. They are integral to a being's identity, they define it. And yet. You can have a name since the moment you are aware enough to understand it, to grow in it's label, to live it, to be it. And then you change it.

And you start using the new name, living, going about your day as normal and one day you look at yourself and you realise your previous name is not how you think of yourself anymore, that referring to yourself as that feels odd, because even in the privacy of your own mind it feels totally divorced from who you are. Crowley had already gonne through this and he feared having to do this again, this time knowingly, while everybody else considered it a positive.

"Alright." Aziraphale didn't really have an opinion on his friend's name. He only ever knew him as Crowley (well maybe Crawly in the beginning) but he would not begrudge him if he wanted to go back to his angelic name. "As for your other questions, although I do not presume to know the will of the Almighty, She did tell Gabriel that we were to report directly to her from now on and send us back to earth. Oh and apparently She knew about the Arrangement!"

Crowley was baffled for a moment. "Of course She did angel, is that surprising to you?"  
"Yes! Wait you knew?"  
"God is omnipresent and omniscient. She knows what everyone is doing constantly."  
Aziraphale recalling that one time where he straight up lied to God's face felt faint.  
"I think I may need a drink."  
"Angel how did you not know that!?"

The rest of the day was spent with Aziraphale regaling Crowley with tale after outrageous tale of things he would not have done if he knew that God was watching. Some of them did involve the former demon of course, but a surprising amound did not to his shock and awe. And while he listened to his angel speak he realised, that whatever they decided to do next, they would be alright.


	2. Getting coffe with God

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! I hope you like this!

It had been a month since the apocalypse was averted. Crowley had only returned to his flat the day before, seeing as he spent all of his time since he was unexpectedly turned back into an angel with Aziraphale. It was then that the doorbell rang.

That was surprising in many ways, one of which was that Crowley's flat did not in fact _have_ a doorbell. He went to open the door apprehensively and had to use all his willpower to not slam it closed again. He really did not think that God would appreciate it

"Mother" he greeted Her. She smiled serenely and spoke softly, "Crowley, you deserve an explanation"  
"What?" He was floored by those words.  
"It's true. You can refuse of course, but I think that you would be interested in that."

Crowley could not believe what was happening. Questions were buzzing inside his mind like a swarm of bees and he would not dare speak them. He stood still for some time as he mulled it over. He did not know if this was a test or a genuine offer. As far as he knew, God did not play tricks like that, but it felt too good to be true. In the end he resolved to accept. "Alright." 

She was waiting, seemingly entirely unnaffected by his long delibaration.  
"Good! Now in the interest of not having a lengthy conversation at your doorstep, would you be alright with moving this somewhere else? I know a place that should be comforable." Crowley nodded. What else could he have done? 

Instantly he found himself standing next to a chair in a coffe shop. God was alredy seated at a table. He sat on the chair and waited for Her to start. She waited long enough for a waitress to come and take their orders. Crowley was reluctant to order anything but when God says "Anything you want. My treat." you order something

After the waitress left, She started speaking, "I suppose I should begin by telling you that the reason I made you an angel again is that you would have died otherwise. I understand that it is painful and it is not a pain that I would have put you through if there was another choice"

Crowley bit his tongue trying to keep his questions unspoken.  
"You can ask me whatever you want, it's not much of a conversation if only one person is talking"

Sheepishly, Crowley conceded to himself that it was foolish to try and hide from someone all-knowing and so he asked "So You did not want me as an angel? Besides if You wanted to spare me pain, why make me a demon in the first place?" He was horrified at his own insolence, yet driven by a boiling anger that had awakened at the Heavenly Mother's words

She sighed softly. "It's ineffable." She held a hald up to halt an enraged Crowley who had opened his mouth to yell. "I will try to explain regardless. You know that I am omniscient. That implies that I know all things to come.

Naturally that carries it's own contradiction: If I know what everyone is going to do then how is there free will? If your actions are predetermined how is choise anything but an illusion? For free will to exist I would have to face the same unknown future as every other being in the cosmos. That would mean that I am not omniscient. So which one which Crowley? Which one is a lie?"

Crowley in all honesty had not expected to participate in a philosophical debate on free will and the nature of God that morning when he woke up and he never in his entire life would have thought that he would be in any type of debate with God in a coffe shop (or anywhere else really). As a result any feeling of anger he had gave way to pure confusion. He absurdly hoped that God was not having an existential crisis.

The waitress brought their drinks at that moment and She took a sip before continuing "The truth is that it's not that simple. There _is_ free will, every living thing has it. And yet I know what will happen. I see every option Crowley, every little or big choise everybody makes and the future that they shape.  
Everything counds in the web of events. A frog's life will cause ripples. Of course if a frog causes ripples, a human will cause splashes, an angel will cause waves, I will create a tsunami."

She paused and closed Her eyes, concentating, almost as if She was listening to something faint.  
"There is a woman right now who chose to drink the cranberry juice instead of the orange juice in her fridge. That pushed the earliest discovery date of an almost 100% cure for brain cancer 5 years back."  
"Why didn't you stop it?" , asked Crowley incensed.

"It seems like such a petty thing doesn't it? Juice preference. Why would I let it get in the way of lives being saved? Free will Crowley. It may be a small choice a meaningless occurrence not only in the grand scheme of things but also in this woman's life and it being altered could bring about so much good! No. I cannot. Every living thing's experience is shaped by choices and they should be allowed to make their own, whatever darkness they may bring.

They are not My puppets to be used at my whims and desires. I usually only intervene personally if humanity would be devasted. I do occasionally give assignments to angels so they can avert big disasters, but even then I do not tell them the exact effect that I hope their actions will have." 

Crowley was entranced by Her words. He could not fathom what She described yet he understood what She was saying. Still something niggled at him. "You saved us. Is that not intervention?"

"It is. I like you two. Though it is more of a big change on your part. I act more freely in Heaven. Angels accept being extensions of My Will. I would not let an execution happen in Heaven under any circumstances. Though I was hoping that you two would find your way out of it without me." She took another sip.

Crowley gathering all his courage and emboldened by the fact that he had not been smitten the first time he asked, repeated his second question, "You say that You like me and that You didn't wish to see me in pain. Why then did You turn me into a demon in the first place? I didn't do anything monstrous back then either, I just asked questions."

She looked sorrowful then. Crowley's breath stopped when he saw that. "Because in some ways I am a gambler. I see all possibilities and their likelihood. Hell in most of it's likely iterations was not like it truly is. Not a twisted reflection of Heaven, with hierarchy and orders and missions. It could have been so many things: democracy, anarchy, a haven for free will or even just a common history with some beings that would live for as long as you, while you went your seperate ways on earth.

And that's the reason why son. You question, you would never have been content with blindly obeying. Heaven would have been miserable for you. Casting you out was not about punishment. It was about setting you free, removing you from an enviroment in which you do not fit in. 

It all went differently of course and I learned that just because something is more likely it does not mean that I should place my bets on it. It was a mistake. One that I made with more than one of My children and that I regret deeply. It was done with good intentions, but you know what they say about them nowadays don't you?"

"So now I work for you again? Follow your commands? The angel, er Aziraphale mentioned something about us reporting directly to you."

"Ah, Aziraphale another one of my more rebellious children."  
"He's not." Crowley protested.  
"Yes he is. Though luckily by the time he showed his independent streak, it was clear that Hell was not shaping up in the way I was waiting for ot to be."

She paused and took another sip as he contemplated Her words.  
"So now with the whole apocalypse business over and done with, thanks to Adam and his friends, but also with you two making a significant contribution, I want you to consider yourselves free agents. Neither of you fit in Heaven anymore and Hell is nothing but a horrific punishment. I like what you where doing before, though I suppose I prefer feeding children over bringing the entire telephone network down."

"Speaking about punishment, can I ask...?" he trailed off.  
"You can." She motioned for him to go ahead.  
"You changed me into an angel. Back into, ugh you know! Why did my eyes remain the same? Because it was punishment?"

"It wasn't. Not truly. I _was_ angry at Adam and Eve for disobeying My orders but you were not under My orders, now were you? All demons started taking on animalistic traits. Me marking you as the serpent only served to guide them. If you want to I can change them to what they were originally."  
"I don't. I haven't for a long time."

Crowley sat back and felt a sense of calm surrounding him. He had been worried for over a decade, ever since he got the call to deliver the Antichrist. His concerns had shifted, from the end of the world, to the end of his and his angel's lives, to rejoining the angel club again but now finally he felt peace.

God spoke again "Tell Aziraphale not to worry. And tell him that I will come to him as well, he is just not ready yet."  
She stood up. "Farewell Crowley. We shall meet again."

And with that she vanished. Crowley stayed in his chair looking at the large amound of money that she left. He stayed long enough for the waitress to come gather it and then left as well, heading back to his flat to sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of my past ~~God headcannons~~ theological musings made it into this....  
>  Religion is weird.

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive critisism welcome!


End file.
